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In 1980, Dr. Cantor Poirier was a General Practitioner with a solid but by no means lucrative practice in the bay area. Steve Perry met Dr. Poirier through family frends and hired him to accompany the band and crew on the Departure tour. “Beyond my general practice, I specialize in Otolaryngology; after the rigors of the Infinity and Evolution tours, Mr. Perry wanted someone on staff to monitor his vocal health.”

Dr. Poirier, a quiet and thoughtful man, felt an immediate kinship with Steve Perry. “There was always a great deal going on, and some of the other band members and crew were quite rowdy as a rule. For all his enthusiastic stage presence, Mr. Perry tends to be a reserved, thoughtful person. We soon found we had many things in common.”

Dr. Poirier traveled with the band through the Departure tour, the Escape tour of 1981, and the performances of 1982. “That was quite enough of life on the road, so I returned to my practice. I knew that the band had begun recording their next record, Frontiers, and that they were planning another tour to support it. I was a bit concerned; they had all been on the road for so very long and I thought they all, and Mr. Perry in particular, should take a break.”

As it turned out, Steve Perry had the same idea. According to Dr. Poirier, “Tensions were growing within the band, and of course he loves performing but loathes touring. He was looking ahead to long months of buses, planes and hotels, all the hours of inactivity and lack of sleep… he didn’t know if he could stand it. My concern was the risk to his vocal health, and consequently to the quality of his performances. It was my honest, professional opinion that he shouldn’t do it.”